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Robotic Audi To Brave Pikes Peak Without a Driver

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the zoom-zoom-splat dept.

Scifi83 writes "A team of researchers at the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (CARS) has filled the trunk of an Audi TTS with computers and GPS receivers, transforming it into a vehicle that drives itself. The car will attempt Pikes Peak without a driver at race speeds, something that's never been done."

10 of 197 comments (clear)

  1. Note to Self by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Observe trials from uphill side of road.

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    Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
    1. Re:Note to Self by nacturation · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Observe trials from uphill side of road.

      No kidding. If ever a story deserved a "whatcouldpossiblygowrong" tag...

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
  2. PP is an exciting road by smellsofbikes · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Having raced up Pikes Peak myself, I think this is pretty impressive. The road surface varies from almost-pavement-quality treated packed dirt, to completely loose gravel on rut-filled rock, with (as I recall) an average 10% climb. It'd be a great test ground for offroad stuff at a slow speed with nobody else on the road, but doing it at full speed requires a *lot* more than just the ability to see where the roadway is: giving a robot the ability to keep a fast car from skidding/sliding on loose gravel on an off-camber turn appears to me to be a wholly different type of challenge than previous autonomous driving projects.

    --
    Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
    1. Re:PP is an exciting road by Tiger4 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Rapid reaction time, good slide slip sensors, and some great counterintuitive steering routines are all going to be essential if this is going to be "at race speeds". Good trained drivers screw this kind of thing up all the time. A robot can be programmed to be repeatable, but is this one flexible enough to conditions to be fast AND safe?

      Look out below!

      --
      Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now, and let us slay him... and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
    2. Re:PP is an exciting road by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      ...and some great counterintuitive steering routines...

      I didn't realize programs/algorithms/AI could distinguish between 'intuitive' and 'counterintuitive'.

  3. Re:W1N vs. FA1L by Carik · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Easy. Watching it succeed will be more astonishing.

    Watching it fail will be more entertaining (assuming some safety precautions preventing anyone from being killed).

  4. Re:Audi?! by Tiger4 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Audi, specifically Audi Quattros, have been rally car favorites for years. Big engine, good tranny, four wheel drive. There are a lot of people that know how to get them running well, and the cars are built well to do the job.

    --
    Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now, and let us slay him... and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
  5. Re:Bravery by Fnord666 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It seems like it would be braver to have no driver but still have a passenger.

    Maybe they could require the development team to ride along. I'll bet the quality of the code would go way up.

    --
    'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
  6. Re:Time to market by clonan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is GPS navigation only. The article makes no mention of visual processing. Without much better "eyes" these cars will just run you over follwoing the map....

    This is only safe because it is a closed road.

  7. Re:Explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    some people feel the need to bring political bashing into every conversation. How useless!